Jeff Cutler has broken the rules. And in the process, he’s added a whole new wrinkle to the “SXSWi 2010 Voices” series!

Asked to share his Great Expectations for this year’s SXSWi in exactly 10 words, Jeff gave me the 10–and then added detailed explanations for each of them.  That only made sense, as Jeff put it to me by e-mail, because his 10 words were “obscure and obtuse … [his] bailiwicks.”

It’s a good explanation, and I’m expressed by Jeff’s creativity…so the full entry stands! Here it is.

A vignette for the SXSWi 2010 by Jeff Cutler

1. Memories. Too frequently we fail to breathe and take account of ourselves in the moment. I’d be lying if I said I did this more than .0612943% of the time. But it’s still a hope.

2. Connections. I have NEVER (notice the capitalization), N E V E R ! ! ! ! Been part of a community that accepts people for who they are more than the social media world. Not the snooty press people (who I adore), nor the advertising geniuses (who all have god complexes and who I also adore), or even my closest friends from high school and college (I adore them too). Social media event bring out the quirky best in people and I am pumped to experience those connections again.

3. Schwag. Anyone taking part in this series is a blasphemer and a heretic and a witch…most likely…if they don’t reveal that free stuff (food, henna tattoos, hard drives, video cameras, Ford Flexes) are on their bucket list for SXSWi.

4. Seriously? Ten things? OK.

5. Knowledge. I really like to think I’m smart. I’m not. I just surround myself with brilliant people who have the patience to explain complicated stuff to me. Aside from Steven Hawking who no longer returns my calls, the rest of you have been fantastic and I expect and hope to get great info and insight from the conference sessions at SXSWi this year.

6. Money. As a professional journalist and social media pro, I think it behooves me to see if GamePlan Hayden, Greg Verdino, Aaron Strout, Robert Scoble, AOL and Mashable, Google and others want to buy my brain power. I will sell it to them gladly. All they need to do is feed me…a lot. And pay for my annual Tour de France journey to Europe.

7. Energy. Not in terms of switchgrass or corn syrup or even malt beverages. But I’m looking for–and expect to find–the organic energy that comes from a moveable feast of techies. I want to chat with Tom Merritt and Molly Wood and Gary Vaynerchuk and Steve Garfield and Julio Fernandez and Chris Anderson and anyone who might be able to spark an idea or further my motivation to live, breathe and work in the social media space.

8. Perspective. Without stepping into the fishbowl, you can’t tell what is going on with people who are literally off the deep end. I want to hear the fringe tell me about how they solved the mysteries of life by using social oomph or how Rippol.com is going to change the video landscape or even how Twitter is going to be purchased by Mike Langford and Tweetworks and then folded into an app that runs on a refurbished Apple Newton. I want the odd stories to inspire me to listen harder and learn more.

9. Booze. ‘enuf said.

10. Future. The model in this piece has been one-word bits, but I would say THE future if pressed for accuracy. I think the brains at SXSWi are the future. They are passionate and happy and giving and great. I want to glimpse the future here and then have the joy of living it. And maybe this one thing–the future–encompasses all the other things I’m looking for this March.

About Jeff
Jeff Cutler is Boston-based writer, content creator, and Twitter teacher. He made a splash at his first SXSW Interactive last year as part of the Innovators’ Road Trip.

Twitter: @JeffCutler
Blog: Jeff Cutler’s columns, essays, and opinions

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